NATO: Investigate Civilian Deaths in Libya

(Brussels) – The North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) has failed to acknowledge dozens of civilian
casualties from air strikes during its 2011 Libya campaign, and has not
investigated possible unlawful attacks, Human Rights Watch said in a
report released today.

“NATO took important steps to minimize civilian casualties during the
Libya campaign, but information and investigations are needed to explain
why 72 civilians died,” said Fred Abrahams,
special adviser at Human Rights Watch and principal author of the
report. “Attacks are allowed only on military targets, and serious
questions remain in some incidents about what exactly NATO forces were
striking.”

NATO’s military campaign in Libya, from March to October 2011, was
mandated by the United Nations Security Council to protect civilians
from attacks by security forces of then-Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

The number of civilian deaths from NATO air strikes in Libya was low
given the extent of the bombing and duration of the campaign, Human
Rights Watch said. Nevertheless, the absence of a clear military target
at seven of the eight sites Human Rights Watch visited raises concerns
of possible laws-of-war violations that should be investigated.

Human Rights Watch called on NATO to investigate all potentially
unlawful attacks and to report its findings to the UN Security Council,
which authorized the military intervention in Libya.

NATO should also address civilian casualties from its air strikes in
Libya at the NATO heads of state summit, taking place in Chicago on May
20 and 21, Human Rights Watch said.

The Human Rights Watch report is the most extensive examination to date
of civilian casualties caused by NATO’s air campaign. It looks at all
sites known to Human Rights Watch in which NATO strikes killed
civilians. Strikes that resulted in no civilian fatalities – though
civilians were wounded or property destroyed – were not included.

The most serious incident occurred in the village of Majer, 160
kilometers east of Tripoli, the capital, on August 8, 2011, when NATO
air strikes on two family compounds killed 34 civilians and wounded more
than 30, Human Rights Watch said. Dozens of displaced people were
staying in one of the compounds.

A second strike outside one of the compounds killed and wounded
civilians who witnesses said were searching for victims. The infrared
system used by the bomb deployed should have indicated to the pilot the
presence of many people on the ground. If the pilot was unable to
determine that those people were combatants, then the strike should have
been canceled or diverted.

Under the laws of war, parties to a conflict may only direct attacks at
military targets and must take all feasible precautions to minimize
harm to civilians. While civilian casualties do not necessarily mean
there has been a violation of the laws of war, governments are obligated
to investigate allegations of serious violations and compensate victims
of unlawful attacks.

Human Rights Watch said NATO should also consider a program to provide
payments to civilian victims of NATO attacks without regard to
wrongdoing, as NATO has done in Afghanistan.

At seven sites documented in the report, Human Rights Watch uncovered
no – or only possible – indication that Libyan military forces, weapons,
hardware, or communications equipment had been present at the time of
the attack. The circumstances raise serious questions about whether the
buildings struck – all residential – were valid military targets. At the
eighth site, at which three women and four children died, the target
may have been a Libyan military officer.

NATO officials told Human Rights Watch that all of its targets were
military objectives, and thus legitimate targets. But it has not
provided specific information to support those claims, mostly saying a
targeted site was a “command and control node” or “military staging
ground.”

NATO said the Majer compounds were a “staging base and military
accommodation” for Gaddafi forces, but it has not provided specific
information to support that claim. During four visits to Majer,
including one the day after the attack, the only possible evidence of a
military presence found by Human Rights Watch was a single
military-style shirt – common clothing for many Libyans – in the rubble
of one of the three destroyed houses.

Family members and neighbors in Majer independently said there had been
no military personnel or activity at the compounds before or at the
time of the attack.

“I’m wondering why they did this; why just our houses?” said Muammar
al-Jarud, who lost his mother, sister, wife, and 8-month-old daughter.
“We’d accept it if we had tanks or military vehicles around, but we were
completely civilians, and you can’t just hit civilians.”

To research the eight incidents, Human Rights Watch visited the sites,
in some cases multiple times, inspected weapons debris, interviewed
witnesses, examined medical reports and death certificates, reviewed
satellite imagery, and collected photographs of the wounded and dead.
Detailed questions were submitted to NATO and its member states that
participated in the campaign, including in an August 2011 meeting with
senior NATO officials involved in targeting.

NATO derived its mandate from UN Security Council Resolution 1973,
which authorized the use of force to protect civilians in Libya. The
relatively few civilian casualties during the seven-month campaign
attests to the care NATO took in minimizing civilian harm, Human Rights
Watch said.

Countries such as Russia that have made grossly exaggerated claims of
civilian deaths from NATO air strikes during the Libyan campaign have
done so without basis, Human Rights Watch said.

“The countries that have criticized NATO for so-called massive civilian
casualties in Libya are trying to score political points rather than
protect civilians,” Abrahams said.

NATO asserts that it cannot conduct post-operation investigations into
civilian casualties in Libya because it has no mandate to operate on the
ground. But NATO has not requested permission from Libya’s transitional
government to look into the incidents of civilian deaths and should
promptly do so, Human Rights Watch said.

“The overall care NATO took in the campaign is undermined by its
refusal to examine the dozens of civilian deaths,” Abrahams said. “This
is needed to provide compensation for victims of wrongful attacks, and
to learn from mistakes and minimize civilian casualties in future wars.” - Source: Human Rights Watch

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